EXCERPT: “Low-income Americans are already struggling to keep a roof over their heads due to a growing affordable housing shortage. But budgets drafted by the Trump administration and Congress, along with provisions in the tax cut package, are bound to make matters worse. As a researcher who studies the intersection of tax law and housing policy, I am concerned about how these proposed changes would reduce the volume of new housing for low-income people and cut aid that people facing economic hardship use to cover their rent.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2ic3D61

EXCERPT: “A new affordable housing development for veterans struggling with homelessness has opened this fall in the Twin Cities. Adjacent to the VA Medical Center near Fort Snelling, the 100-unit Richard A. Brustad Homes makes another dent in reducing veteran homelessness in the state. According to the latest figures, homelessness among Minnesota’s veterans has fallen by 61% since 2010. The development is the second phase on the site for Minneapolis-based Community Housing Development Corp. (CHDC). In 2006, it built the 140-unit Veteran’s Community Housing Apartments. ‘After completing the first phase and continuing to see such a huge need not only at the property with a wait list, but in the Twin Cities metro area, we decided to start the second phase,’ says Heidi Rathmann, senior vice president of housing development for CHDC.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2mdKuVy

EXCERPT: “The housing market continues to see increasing prices in many US cities but homes are still relatively affordable. Black Knight Financial’s September Mortgage Monitor shows that nationally it requires 21.4% of median income to purchase the median-priced home. That compares to the 24.2% required between 1995-1999 and the 26.2% needed from 2000-2003.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2yJ72DG

EXCERPT: “Digi International Inc. may sell its Minnetonka headquarters so that an affordable housing developer can build a 477-unit complex. Plymouth-based Dominium has submitted conceptual plans showing a three-building complex that would include 262 units for seniors and 215 units of workforce housing, meant for people making 60 percent of the area’s median income.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2yBhEEj

EXCERPT: “Northfield needs more affordable housing. It’s repeated again and again by community leaders and evidenced by the low vacancy rate in the city’s affordable properties. So knowing the problem, it’s worth noting a success story. The North and South Oak apartment complexes in northwest Northfield have undergone full-scale renovations, and yet all 44 units will retain rental assistance status. About one year ago, those units were 30 years old with little-to-no updates, and they were at risk of becoming market-rate housing.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2h2xKvO

EXCERPT: “Ten 1960s-era apartment building in the Twin Cities are now in the hands of a nonprofit developer who plans to keep rents affordable. Minneapolis-based Aeon, along with Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and Enterprise Community Investment, paid $77 million for the 768-unit portfolio, which includes a bulk of Bloomington rentals, but also properties in New Hope, Brooklyn Center and St. Paul. The deal closed Tuesday.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2hAhfI1

EXCERPT: “The major cause of the crisis is that the collapse of job creation outside of major cities has sent demand for housing there sky high. And since the supply of land is fixed, and doesn’t adjust to price changes like most goods or services, the price of housing just keeps soaring as well. One popular fix among mainstream thinkers is to deregulate local zoning, roll back historic preservation rules, and the like. The idea is that these ordinances hold back construction, constricting supply. Cut the red tape, and let the market work its magic! In and of itself, this certainly wouldn’t be a bad change to make. But it’s unlikely the market alone is up to fixing this problem.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2ltvOS4

EXCERPT: “Winona’s Housing Task Force has finalized a list of recommendations intended to help the city meet its current and future housing challenges. The task force has spent much of this year working on the so-called Financial Toolbox, which is being sent to the Winona City Council for ratification, and which specifically addresses the need for affordable housing for people who live and work in Winona. According to Nick Larson, the city’s community development specialist, roughly two-thirds of people who work in Winona live outside of the city — not necessarily because they wish to live elsewhere, but because they can’t find housing here. The Financial Toolbox seeks to fix that imbalance in several ways.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2gQmiXs

EXCERPT: “Look at a map of where landlords file paperwork to evict renters from their homes in Minneapolis and you might notice something striking: These legal actions happen almost like clockwork in north Minneapolis, and pretty rarely just a few miles away in southwest Minneapolis. Evictions are a problem in the Twin Cities and across the country as housing becomes less affordable for low-income families. And they exacerbate existing inequalities by hitting some of the most disadvantaged populations the hardest. But just how eviction affects families can be difficult to track, since people who are displaced from their homes often don’t think of themselves as evicted, and because court records lack the specificity to tell the whole story.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2gIPAXS

EXCERPT: “Amazon said Monday that 238 cities and regions within the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico, have submitted proposals to become the online retailer’s second headquarters. Many experts believe Minnesota’s chances of securing the campus are slim, which may be positive news to some locals, particularly those concerned about the Twin Cities housing market . . . One early analysis, conducted by apartment listing aggregator Apartment List, suggests the price increase for Minneapolis renters could be an additional 1 percent annually, amounting to $8,700 in extra rent costs over a 10-year span. Of the 15 cities analyzed by Apartment List, Minneapolis landed in the middle.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2gFmrgs